Television production has often been described as two minutes of panic followed by two hours of waiting. Rinse and repeat.

That can indeed be the case, but for the final reveal of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, there’s constant excitement in the air. Excitement coupled with the feeling that someone’s life is about to change. In this case, seven lives today, and many more for years to come.

Last minute preparations began last evening, with a call out for skilled hardwood floor and tile installers. Work was at top speed inside and out, nearly up to reveal time, with furniture being delivered, landscaping being completed (an entire yard in less than a day!), the arrival of more than 200 books for the home’s library, courtesy of the Baltimore Ravens, installation of fixtures, and finally, the installation of the front door.

Back outside, some of today’s highlights included visits from Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Governor Martin O’Malley, with both appearances kicking off a bit of a media frenzy. Speaking of media, we’d like to thank all the newspaper, television, radio, internet and blogger outlets who have given the build amazing coverage throughout the week. The Baltimore Sun, The Baltimore Times and WMAR-TV, along with scores of freelance writers and photographers were out in force for the reveal, while radio station Z104.3 kept the hot and restless crowd pumping with a live broadcast and some tunes.

What followed seemed like endless hours of camera blocking and rehearsals: rehearsals for the crowd cheering; rehearsals for the bus move; rehearsals for the limo positioning; and rehearsals for more rehearsals. For the next few weeks, we’ll probably be hearing “Move that bus!” in our sleep. When that bus pulls away “for real,” simply seeing the reaction of those girls made the rehearsals, the weather, the delays, the hot days and the long nights completely worthwhile.

A big THANK YOU to all our partners in this awesome endeavor: the Maryland Community Builders’ Foundation, Chris Rachuba and the Rachuba Group, Artisan Fine Homes, the donors and sponsors, our friends from production and ABC, the neighbors who let us disturb both your street and your sleep, and the hundreds of volunteers who gave up your time to help complete this journey. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – Baltimore has finally wrapped. We’ve changed people’s minds about hybrid modular building. We learned a lot about “live” television. We’ve changed some lives. And we’d do it all again.

Welcome home, Girls Hope.

NOTE: This episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is slated to air in September 2010 on ABC. Sign up now to receive an alert when the air date is announced.